The Vow
by x-weasleyismyking-x
Summary: After the unthinkable happens, Ron and Hermione have to rebuild the love they once had
1. Chapter 1

Hermione laughed as the wind blew through her hair and the sun soaked through her pores. She felt nothing but pure happiness and joy - nothing could faze her on this beautiful, gorgeous, day with the person she loved the most in the world. She looked out her window and smiled as she saw a small exotic bird zip by.

The driver went a bit faster on the road by the seaside and she gripped the side of the red convertible - a total impulse buy.

"Ron, slow down!" Hermione warned, but it was purely out of habit - she had to tell Ron this on a regular basis. He could have gone a million miles an hour and a huge smile would still be plastered on her face - nothing could bring her down right now.

"Hermione, we're losing the bloody light! We have to get there before sunset - it's crucial!" Ron cried, panicked, and Hermione looked to him, touching his tensed arm. She spoke softly.

"Ron - sunset, sunrise, twilight, midnight, evening, morning - I don't care as long as I'm with you."

Ron looked at Hermione with so much love in his eyes she was surprised she didn't melt into a gooey puddle onto the convertible floor. This wasn't the first time she had seen those beautiful blue eyes like that before, though. The first time, she believed, was during their second year, when she had been Petrified. Of course, she hadn't actually seen them, but last year Ron had told her how his feelings had begun in second year. She had admitted that she had harbored feelings for him since first year. She imagined her first-year self right now, who would have been absolutely boggled by the fact that she was now dating Ron. She would have refused to believe it, but who knew, here she was now.

The second time she had seen his eyes like that was during the Yule Ball. He had tried, but failed badly, at, for lack of a better term, ogling at her. She just wished she had dressed up for him instead. She saw it in sixth year - the year that Ron always hated to talk about, but she insisted it was a building block in their relationship - when she asked him to Slughorn's Christmas Party. She saw it in his eyes the year of the Horcrux Hunt, after she had been tortured by Bellatrix. She had never seen so much concern and love in his face and eyes, and all for her! It was overwhelming, touching and loving. Later, Ron told her the story of how he had cried for her, sobbed for her, in the cellar, while he heard her haunting screams coming from the floor above. She had told him it was him of who she thought of and that was how she had made it through. Both Ron and her still had nightmares about it. She had seen it just before she flung herself at him during the Battle of Hogwarts, and directly after Harry had - so rudely - interrupted them.

She had seen the look many times after that, and believed she had one of her own for Ron, which is what they shared now in the car.

"Eyes on the road, love." she reminded him.

"Right. " He said, tearing his eyes away from hers. "We're almost here, anyways."

"So, when are you going to tell me where we're going? You've kept me in suspense for long enough!" She chided gently.

"You'll find out soon." He told her, eyes shining. Ron came to a stop, but before Hermione could properly look around, he cried, "_obscuro!" _and Hermione found a thick, black blindfold around her eyes, with nothing to untie it with.

"Ron! What have you done! Get this thing off me this instant!" she cried.

"Sorry, Hermione, you'll just have to wait." She could hear the smirk in his tone.

"Once I get this off, just know that I'm going to kill you." she said calmly.

"Right - how many times have I heard that one before?" She heard him get out of the car and then open her door. He took her hand and guided her out of the car.

"Now, hold my hand, and I'm going to apparate us, okay?" he told her gently. She nodded, and felt the familiar sensation of being pulled through a tube, but it was quickly gone and she could breathe fresh air again. The air smelt salty, and the wind was strong wherever they were. She felt Ron's strong arm go around her shoulders, and his hand was still in hers.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Never better." Hermione quipped sarcastically. "Ron, take the blindfold off, I can't bear it any longer!"

She heard him mutter a spell and the blindfold disappeared. Hermione gasped : what she saw took her breath away. She and Ron were standing atop a high mountain cliff, surrounded by other mountains, and below, she saw the pristine blue sea, shimmery white sand and the sun that was slowly setting, exuding a lovely color between red and orange, lighting up the whole sky. She thought it matched brilliantly with his hair.

"Ron, it's - it's beautiful!" She told him truthfully.

"Isn't it?" He replied. After a moment's pause, he said, "this is where I came when... you know.. when I left y-"

"Shhh." Hermione said, placing a finger on his lips, knowing what he was going to say. "It's okay."

"No, I just wanted to tell you that the first thought when I discovered this place was that I had to take you here someday, and how much you would love it."

Hermione beamed up at him. "Well, you were absolutely right. It's just gorgeous."

They both enjoyed the view for a while, in each other's arms, before Ron cleared his throat, breaking the comfortable silence that had just been shared.

"My second thought was that... this should be the place that I did.. this." he said quietly, and before Hermione could think, he was bent down on one knee and staring straight into her eyes. Hermione gasped and covered her hands with her mouth. She couldn't believe this was happening, it was like a beautiful, amazing dream that she never ever wanted to wake up from. She pinched her arm hard to make sure, and the gasp of pain that escaped from her mouth assured her that it was, indeed, very real.

"Hermione Jean Granger, will you do me the huge honor of marrying me?" Ron asked softly.

Hermione let out a garbled scream and bent down herself, giving Ron a huge bear hug.

"I take that as a yes, then?" Ron whispered.

Hermione examined the ring on her finger, it was beautiful. A family heirloom, she gathered, from its vintage styling. She felt a little woozy from the champagne Ron had produced, and they had downed the entire bottle on the mountaintop.

"Nor - I mean, Ron-" she giggled. "Shlow down a little bit!"

"Ermione, you worry way too much!"

Hermione's eyes widened as they saw the approaching highbeams, shining straight in her face. The next thing she heard was a loud car horn and a sickening crunch before all went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

The sound of the beeping grew louder and louder, but all I saw was black. Pure, pitch, dark black, as black as the night sky my parents and I used to see when we went camping every summer at the Forest of Dean. But this was different. There were absolutely no stars, no bright glimmer of hope. I tried to force my eyelids open, but they remained closed, feeling heavy. I didn't have the energy to open them, I realized. I heard a muffled noise, sounding excited. It sounded like my name, but I couldn't be sure. The beeping in the background went on. Once again, I tried to move my eyelids, but no cigar.

"Her hand! It's moving, Rick!" I heard, a female voice that seemed very familiar to me.

"Nurse! Nurse!" I heard an excited male voice.

"Oh, my baby. Oh thank _god_, everyone at the club will be so _relieved..._" the woman was closer to me now, her anguish-filled voice rang through my ears, shrill and loud. The loudness made me cringe, and all of a sudden, I was staring up at my mother, looking older than I remembered, her strawberry blonde hair cut into a bob, a string of pearls around her neck, diamond drops on her ears, an orange cardigan spread around her shoulders.

"Oh, Hermione!" she exclaimed loudly, cradling my head next to her chest. I could feel her chest racking with sobs as she finally released me. She placed my head gently back on the pillow and stroked my hair, as my father, wearing one of his many golf shirts covering a newly grown paunch, came into view, along with a stern-looking nurse, glasses perched on the end of her hooked nose.

"Mum? Dad?" I asked, stupidly.

"Yes, honey, it's us!" My mother replied, taking out her hankie and wiping the corner of her eyes, while my father, rather awkwardly, patted the top of my head, smiling.

"What- what happened to me?" I asked, while for the first time taking in my surroundings. I found myself in a bright hospital room, with machines and things of all sorts around my bed, one which connected to my index finger. With light streaming in from a window, I saw an abandoned chair, on which my father would have sat, and a small television, along with a table full of newspapers, books, half-finished crosswords, something which looked like a card, a jug of water and a couple of glasses.

"You, my dear," said the nurse, rushing forward to me and playing with the machines, "were in an accident. Luckily, you have no broken bones, because you crashed headfirst into the windshield, so except for a couple of bruises here and there, you escaped unscathed. You should consider yourself very fortunate, Ms. Granger." Her eagle eyes bored into me, the glasses threatening to fall off.

I winced. "Unscathed? Excuse me, nurse, but I consider a _coma_ a little more than unscathed, wouldn't you agree?" My mother exclaimed.

A _coma_? I thought, with a sharp intake of breath. I couldn't even process the information. I had been _unconscious _for a long period of time? This was not happening.

"Now, calm down, Edith." My father said, going to move next to my mother, resting his hands on her shoulders. My mother scoffed as the nurse continued to work.

"Someone please just tell me what happened!" I said loudly, fed up.

"Hermione, you were in an accident. A bad one." Leave it to my father to be descriptive. "You- you crashed into the windshield, and have been here for 3 months now."

"Oh my gosh." I said, after my breath came out in a little whoosh. "A coma?" the question hung in the air uncomfortably, everyone looking at each other out of the corner of their eyes, before I spoke again.

"Who was driving? Are they okay?"

As soon as the question left my mouth, my mother jumped up from her seat, I couldn't tell if anyone had heard me or not. "Please, nurse, when can we leave? I would like to take my daughter out of this godforsaken place as soon as possible."

"She will have to remain here for one more day, and then you can take her home tomorrow after signing some papers." the nurse replied curtly.

"Thank God!" my mother cried. Yeah, she's a bit of a drama queen.

"Mum, I'll have missed so much work!" I told her, sitting up on the bed.

.

"Oh, hush now, you were in a coma." She raised her eyebrows at me.

"Ms. Granger, the doctor will be in shortly, to ask you a few questions." The nurse interrupted our conversation.

"Yes, thank you." I nodded at her.

A few minutes later, a tall man with a beard and glasses walked in, and perched himself on the table.

"Hello, Ms. Granger, how nice to see you again!" He grinned, revealing two rows of uneven teeth. My parents would hate that, and I detected my mother

s cringe from the corner of my eye.

I smiled, although I'm not sure how genuine I appeared.

"Can you please tell me what's the last thing you remember?" The doctor asked me.

"Umm..." I racked my brains as hard as I could. What was wrong with me? During exams at Hogwarts' I was able to mug an entire page... "Hogwarts!" I exclaimed out loud. My mother looked at me, a flashing warning written in her eyes. I couldn't believe that until this moment, I had forgotten I was magical.

"'Hogwarts?'" the doctor repeated incredulously. "What is this 'Hogwarts'? Surely, you don't mean, Pigzits?" He studied all three of our faces before guffawing and slapping his knee.

"Um, sorry." I said sheepishly. How _stupid_ of me, to mention Hogwarts. "But, I'm trying to remember..." I tried with all my might to remember. A flash of orange, a bright orange, played in my mind, along with scenes of rubble and destruction. The smell of mint toothpaste overpowered my senses. "The final battle..." I whispered.

"You'll have to speak LOUDER, Ms. Granger." the doctor encouraged.

"Umm... I had just finished prep school and was beginning work." It was the best I could come up with at the moment.

"And how many years ago was this?"

"About... 3?" I looked directly into the doctor's eyes, scared but determined to see what I would find there.

The doctor looked at me pitifully. "I'm sorry to tell you, but you have experienced memory loss."

I averted my eyes, playing with the hospital bracelet that was draped around my wrist. "Yes, thank you doctor." My mother quickly said, luckily sensing the tension.

The doctor excused himself, saying I should rest and drink plenty of water, and I didn't mind if I had to come in for therapy, did I?

There was a moment of silence afterwards, everyone struggling to find the right words.

I broke the silence. "Mum, please. Just tell me who else was in the car."

She looked at me, worry in her eyes. "It was... Jonathan." She finally said.

"Jonathan? As in Jonathan Surrey, from the next street over?" I said, shocked.

"Yes," My mother replied, now gazing out the window.

"Is - is he okay?" I exclaimed.

"His arm is broken, I think." she frowned, and then turned to my father. "Richard, if you could excuse us, for a moment..."

My dad hurriedly left. "Jonathan and you," my mother began, "were seeing each other, Hermione."

"Are you serious, Mum?" My mouth had dropped open. "The last I remember, I had just come back from Australia with you and Dad and Jonathan had barely spoken to me at all!" I finished.

"As a matter of fact, you two had just been engaged before the accident."

"ENGAGED?" I'm pretty sure I had woken up the entire hospital wing. I frantically looked at my hands, searching for any trace of a ring.

"The ring's at home, dear." my mother said, watching me.

"Oh my gosh! I don't believe this! I bloody don't believe this!" I cried. "How can I be engaged to someone I barely know?"

"Don't worry, darling. He completely understands the situation, and is more than willing to give you a chance."

"He better be more than willing, he's supposed to be my fiance, after all." I muttered through gritted teeth.

"What was that, dear?" My mother asked me, her tone sugary sweet, but I sensed something different underneath. I was sure she had heard me.

"Oh, nothing." I smiled at her.

We looked at each other for what felt like a few moments, before my father and the doctor burst back into the room, the doctor holding a clipboard full of papers.

Leaning against the open door frame, he said, "Well, here are the papers you have to sign, and then you may leave tomorrow after a few physical tests are conducted. Is that okay?"

I nodded, still pondering over what my mother had said. Suddenly, in the hallway, I heard a loud voice yell, "Hermione! Hermione! You've woken up! Let _go_ of me, nurse!" The voice was masculine, familiar, and surprisingly, inspired butterflies in my stomach. Before I could see anyone, though, the door was shut with a loud bang by my mother.

"Crazy people around here." she scoffed.

I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate as much as I could on that voice. It stirred something inside me, deep in my heart, but what it was I couldn't figure out.

_The world seemed to slow down as I rushed towards him. The moment I had been waiting for for an eternity ; the union of our lips, uniting mind, body, heart and soul. At this point I didn't even care that much if he felt the same way or not. All I knew is that I needed to feel his lips on mine before I died tonight. 7 years of sexual frustration better lead to one passionate kiss, I thought. And when I reached him and pressed my lips to his, I knew that this was a moment I would never forget. _

A/N : Hi everyone! Thank you for the awesome response to the story. I am so very pleased that you enjoy it. I hope you like this chapter as well. I'm sorry if it's a little confusing right now, but don't worry, it'll all make sense soon ;)

I'm super excited about this story, and sharing it with you all, so thank you very much.


	3. Chapter 3

I had waited so long for that moment. So bloody long. It was all true, what I had told Hermione that fateful day 3 months ago. I know what you're thinking : How is Ron Weasley such a bloody sap?! But when I'm with Hermione, it's truly something else. I can't explain it really.

Careless driving on my part, a little bit, I do confess. I was completely high on happiness. Nothing, in my entire existence, had ever felt so good. Okay, sex came a close second. Anyways, it really wasn't my fault that the drunk truck driver had to go and crash into our car on the most perfect night of my life. The next thing I knew, I woke up in St. Mungo's, with a potion being slathered over my disfigured arm, and a bandage on my head. My whole family was there, George and a pregnant Angelina, Harry and Ginny, Percy and Audrey, Bill, Dominique, a pregnant Fleur, and my parents. Wow, my family breeds like rabbits.

But the one person who I was most worried about wasn't there. I was told that she had been taken to a Muggle hospital for 'her parents' sake'. Sure, I was a bit cheesed, but I could deal with it. As soon as I got out of the hospital, I went to go visit Hermione. It seemed that her parents were waiting for me, having never met them, I was surprised they recognized me. I suppose it was the red hair that gave me away. They asked me if I could wait, they wanted to give Hermione the chance to 'rest and recuperate'. Sure, I said, but could I at least see her? Her father, it seemed, was about to say yes, but then her mother quickly stopped him and asked me to come back another time. I let it go, and came back a week later. The same thing happened. This time I was really upset. I was her freaking fiance after all, and best friend for years before that! That didn't end too well, and they told me they would notify when Hermione woke up. Man, I was so pissed off. But what could I do ? Harry went to go visit her, and her parents allowed him to for 10 minutes. I gave him a card that I had written for Hermione, desperately hoping he would be able to leave it there. With some crazy skills from Harry, I was able to bewitch the card into an old muggle newspaper to fool Hermione's parents, but Hermione would still be able to see it, I hoped.

"How is she, Harry? Is she okay?" I asked him as soon as he came back.

"She's good, Ron. I spoke to the doctor and things are looking good for her." Harry replied, but he wouldn't look me in the eyes.

"Harry, tell me the truth."

He sighed, closing his eyes. "This is the truth, Ron." He patted my shoulder and walked away, leaving me to my own misery.

I put my head in my hands. I had never felt so horrible in my entire life, so guilty and heavy. The worst feeling ever. Hermione was in a coma, and it was all my fault. All my bloody fault. If I hadn't been driving so recklessly, this would never have happened. Ever. And the worst part was that I could do nothing about it.

Two days later, I visited the hospital. While almost falling asleep in the green, uncomfortable waiting room chair, I heard a burly doctor taking to a strict looking nurse about 'Ms. Granger'. I leapt up, not bothering to adjust my shirt or my hair, which had become disheveled. I realized I must look crazy, from the look on both the doctor and the nurse's faces.

"Um, sorry, but I was wondering if Herm- Ms. Granger is awake?" My look was hopeful, and if I could have crossed all my fingers and toes, I would.

"I'm afraid I'm not allowed to tell you that, sir. If you could provide me with some ID..." the doctor said, holding out a hand. But I could tell that Hermione was awake, thank Merlin. I thought absolutely nothing of running into the hallway with Hermione's room, joy consumed my mind and she was all I thought of as I yelled, "Hermione! Hermione! You've woken up!" By then, the doctor and nurse had caught up with me and were holding me back, as if I was a crazed stalker, or criminal. Turning bright red, I realized I probably looked like one.

"Let _go_ of me, nurse!" I exclaimed. Surprisingly, she did, and I faced her, bemused.

"You lovesick boy."

I blushed.

_I saw her running towards me, the basilisk fangs spilling out of her hands instantly, cascading like a waterfall. I couldn't think properly. Everything around us vanished, all I saw were her earnest brown eyes as she looked at me straight in the eyes, her slightly anxious face shining. This was finally happening, something I had waited for for my entire life, I realized as her lips met mine and fireworks exploded._


End file.
